DETECTIVES have renewed their appeal for witnesses to a raid on a Winchester city centre bank earlier this week.

They are particularly keen to hear from pedestrians, who may have seen the gang of robbers before they struck the Bristol and West branch, at the junction of High Street and Jewry Street, around 4.10pm on Monday.

Winchester was busy at the time of the raid and police believe a lot of people must have seen the robbers hanging around.

They were in their late teens or early twenties, and were all dressed in casual baggy clothing. They were also wearing hoods or scarves wrapped around their faces.

Cash was stolen from the tills, before the gang made off in a blue BMW 316I, parked in St Peter Street. Police tracked the car, travelling at 100mph, up the M3 to Hook, where it crashed. The robbers fled on foot.

One of the robbers was over six feet, while another wore a light jacket with black trousers and black shoes. A second wore a black hooded jacket and tracksuit trousers with a white stripe on the sides, and another wore a dark-coloured jacket, black trousers and white shoes.

The fourth wore a dark jacket with writing on the back, with grey and white shoes.

A police spokesman said: "We would like to hear from anyone, particularly pedestrians, who may have witnessed the raid, or anyone who saw youths running through the centre of the city.

Anyone with information is asked to ring 0845 045 4545.